Gun Violence: An Argument For Gun Control

Words: 986
Pages: 4

With as much gun violence that is happening in society today, it’s understandable that people want to ban guns. Many people believe that if there are greater restrictions placed on guns, then people will not be able to obtain guns and gun violence will decrease. That is just not the case though. Banning guns could help lower the crime rate, but in the long run individuals are left defenseless and criminals will find other ways to acquire weapons. Criminals will still find a way to get these guns and the law-abiding citizens will be left defenseless. Gun control advocates might say that victims are at more risk for death by firearm if the victim at hand has a gun on them during the time of the crime. For example, if someone is being robbed …show more content…
Since I was little I have seen more and more news about gun violence in the news. It’s like the media is also pushing to make guns illegal or tighten the control on them. We have seen everything from school shootings to just flat out violence in the streets. Most recently though, what people have used as their main argument for gun control is because of school shootings. There are many well-known school shootings that took place such as the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Two students killed twelve classmates, one teacher, and injured another twenty-four others. Another incident was Virginia Tech in 2007. A senior student killed thirty-two fellow students and injured countless others and preceded to take his own life after the shootings. And lastly, one shooting we have all heard of is the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook. A man killed his mother and then went to Sandy Hook Elementary School where he shot twenty children and six faculty members. These are only a few situations in which guns have played a major role against defenseless victims. Shootings like these caused people to call for more …show more content…
One way to prove this is to look at other countries in the world and see how they compare. A study done by Harvard called, “Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder Rates and Suicide” shows us why not. They compared the statistics for international deaths throughout Europe against the United States shows that increasing gun control does not lead to lower death rates or violent crime. It shows the numbers for Eastern European gun owners and compares murder rates, it is apparent less guns does not mean less death. For example, in Finland where the 39,000 of 100,000 citizens own guns the murder rater was in the 1.98 per 100,000. Another example would be Norway which 32% of citizens own a gun and they have the lowest murder rate in Western Europe. The study by Harvard shows that “among those nations studied those with more gun control tend to have higher death rates.” One of the largest problems in the argument for gun control is the Second Amendment. It states, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” This was put into place so if the day ever came where the people had to form a militia, the same way we gained our freedom in the first place, it would be able to happen and the people would not be left defenseless against an oppressive